The programme received relatively good reviews, with Shane Hegarty of The Irish Times describing the show as having gotten off "to a ropey start but improved as it went along".

Tubridy Tonight was in RTÉ One's Saturday night slot from 2004 to 2009, having succeeded Kenny Live upon its demise in 1999.a The show had an American-style feel about it[3] with a house band, the Camembert Quartet, providing the theme music and introductory pieces befitting the guests.

[4] Similar to American chat shows, Tubridy Tonight had no opening titles and borrowed its informal bantering style from US entertainers such as David Letterman and Conan O'Brien.

[5] The studio was revamped for series five in 2008, with the addition of a staircase used by guests and a platform for the house band, although the library theme remained intact.

Tubridy Tonight conducted the last live television interview[8] with model and socialite, Katy French only two weeks before her death[9] in suspicious circumstances.

In 2008, it featured a live fight between chefs Kevin Dundon and Dylan McGrath over their styles of cooking; the duo were on the show to promote Guerrilla Gourmet.

[12] On 1 March 2008, Tubridy Tonight saw the first Irish television interview with Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová following their Academy Award-winning show the previous month.

Guests on the first two series' of the show included: Bob Geldof, Charles Dance, Bertie Ahern and Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny.

Also appearing were: comedian Ardal O'Hanlon, Irish international rugby captain Brian O'Driscoll, snooker players Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis, former Emmerdale and Bad Girls actress Claire King, Coronation Street actress Sally Lindsay, actor Jimmy Nesbitt, supermodel Twiggy, Naked Camera actor Maeve Higgins (who revealed why she wanted to marry Eddie Hobbs), West Wing actor Martin Sheen, actress Julie Walters, comedian Ross Noble (Who climbed the prop bookcases and inspected the books to see if they were real, before ripping out a picture of Mike Yarwood on one page and wearing it as a mask and television personality Hector Ó hEochagáin.

International guests in season four included: Christian Slater, Jennie Bond, David Gest, Sophie Dahl, Myleene Klass, Janice Dickinson, Barbara Windsor, Frank Vincent, Dominic Purcell, Kathleen Turner, Martin Freeman, Carol Vorderman, Patsy Palmer, Max Clifford, Geri Halliwell, Joe Elliott and Morgan Spurlock.

International guests in season five included: William Shatner, Henry Winkler, Roger Moore, Richard and David Attenborough (on separate occasions), Paul Gascoigne, Spandau Ballet and a then-unknown singer called Lady Gaga.